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Center for Pharmaceutical Research - An AMR Company

What is a Clinical Trial? Clinical trial process and phases

Before a pharmaceutical drug can be approved by the FDA for use in the United States, it must go through several phases of testing, called clinical trials.

During the clinical trial process, the potential drug is tested for safety and effectiveness. Volunteers are followed very closely by the doctor running the trial, called the Principal Investigator. Most clinical trials require regular office visits and more frequent medical tests, such as blood draws, ECGs, or physical exams. In addition, patients are often asked to keep careful record of changes to their health.

After receiving permission from the FDA, the clinical trials begin. Each drug goes through the following phases of testing:

Phase I
  •   Test the drug in humans for the first time.
  •   Usually include only healthy volunteers.
  •   Primarily test for safety.
  •   Commonly require overnight stays.
Phase II
  •   Focus on proving the drug's effectiveness.
  •   Only begin after the drug has been proven safe in humans.
  •   Include more people than phase I studies.
  •   Compare various doses of the study drug with placebo.
Phase III
  •   Begin when the drug has passed the phase II safety and effectiveness trials.
  •   Are often the final step prior to FDA approval.
  •   Provide a more thorough understanding of the drug's effectiveness, benefits, and possible adverse reactions.
  •   About 75% of new drugs get to this stage.
Phase IV
  •   Gather long-term or marketing data.
  •   Often occur after the drug has been approved by the FDA.

Ninety-percent of drugs that reach Phase III go on to final evaluation by the FDA to seek approval for public use. Though the process takes many years, the end result of new, more effective treatments options makes the effort worthwhile.

The Alliance for Multispecialty Research, LLC (AMR) performs phase I, II, III, and IV clinical research trials to support pharmaceutical companies in the development of new drugs, devices, and vaccines. AMR includes 15 locations and 2 affiliated member centers across the continental United States, 126 investigators, over 7,749 previous clinical trials, and access to databases of over 657,344 patients. As one company, AMR now offers improved efficiencies with the same exceptional quality and industry professionals you trust.
Please visit amrllc.com for more information.

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